


Annabel Lee

by destieldearie



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-28
Updated: 2015-06-28
Packaged: 2018-04-06 16:31:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4228896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/destieldearie/pseuds/destieldearie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Regina hadn’t been lying about the clerics or what if she concocted a clever ruse to fool a grieving Rumpelstiltskin into believing his love was truly dead?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Annabel Lee

**Author's Note:**

> Also, otpprompts prompted: Imagine Person A of your OTP sitting beside Person B’s grave reciting the poem “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allen Poe.  
> And since “Annabel Lee” is one of my favorite Edgar Allen Poe poems, this happened.

_**“She died.”** _

 

The words echoed in his ears as he sat at his spinning wheel.  _“She died. She died. She died. Belle. Dead.”_  He remembered the day he arrived in her father’s war room when something about her caught his eye.  

The ogres were fast approaching the small kingdom by the sea and while their promise of gold wasn’t nearly enough, he still answered their plea for help. Oh he certainly would have found another price, but something about the beautiful maiden in the gold dress called out to him. Perhaps it  _was_  the gold dress she wore, begging for his attention. Or maybe it was her chestnut curls and eyes bluer than the sea that only enhanced her inherent beauty. Certainly it was her stupid bravery, dying for the chance to show itself. He remembered the way her soul, perfect and light, called out to his, charred and broken. It was everything. He’d needed her because she was simply Belle.

 

_**“My price…is her,”**_  

 

The steady creaking of the wheel stopped as he remembered the tittering laughter of the Dark One as he named his price. He, Rumpelstiltskin, was only looking for a caretaker, but the Dark One wanted more. The Dark One had wanted her virtue and the more Rumpelstiltskin let his guard down, the more the Dark One wanted to destroy her. He may be a demonic imp, but there were lines he would never allow himself to cross. As much as he wished her frightened, he would never harm Belle. Belle, his brave and precious Belle, who’d chipped a cup and then slowly chipped away at the walls he had so carefully constructed. Belle, who’d fallen into his arm when she’d tried to brighten his dark and musty castle. Belle, the hero who wanted to save her beast.  

 

_**“I will go with him…forever,”** _

 

She’d promised forever and what was forever when surely she would never care for him? What was forever when death separated True Love? He was a demon and she was angel and her only sin was loving him with her whole heart. Everyone he cared for left him in the end; his father, Milah, Bae, Cora, and now Belle. Perhaps it was for the best. He corrupted everything he touched and only the brightest souls seemed to escape without tarnish; Bae, his wonderful boy, who’d only wanted his papa back, and Belle, who’d only loved and wanted his love in return.

When he felt a tear fall from his eye, Rumpelstiltskin started to spin again. Tonight he wasn’t spinning to forget, but to remember. He’d loved her and lost her, but he’d never forget her. He may be the worst kind of monster, but he would love her until he became dust. He would love her until they were both nothing but bones slowly becoming one with the earth. Then, they would be together again. Only in death can such darkness be with such blinding light.

She had loved him, but he didn’t believe her. For she was goodness and purity and he was darkness and sharp edges. He’d sent her away and she’d returned to her kingdom by the sea where the clerics were ready to purge her of his influence. Where she’d jumped from her tower to escape the torture inflicted upon her in the name of the Gods. Where she had died.  

Surely Regina was lying. He’d hoped against hope that the Evil Queen was merely out for revenge, but when he’d sent his magic across the realm, he’d found a Belle shaped hole in the world. Then, he truly believed. Then, he’d truly lost her.  

Rumpelstiltskin had to see her, just one last time. He’d say his goodbyes properly and promise her forever, like she’d promised him. His beauty had loved books and he’d remembered a book of prose that he’d collected from that mad doctor in the strange, monochromatic world. He had intended to gift it to her when she returned with his straw, but that night he ruined everything and not even a book would have fixed it.  

Book in hand he traveled to her small kingdom by the sea. He wanted to burn it all to the ground, but he’d made a deal and he never reneged on his deals. In his heart, however, he knew Belle would disapprove. It wasn’t difficult to find the burial grounds, still overcrowded with the dead from the Ogre attacks. Under cover of darkness and a cloaking spell, he searched the grave markers looking for the plot of dirt that held his love. When he failed to see a marker for her, he quietly rejoiced. Regina had been lying and now he could find a way to rescue her. He would bring her home. It was in this small revelry that he spotted a small mound of fresh upturned dirt outside the fenced off portion of the grounds.  

 

_**“She threw herself off the tower. She died,”**_  

 

The small flicker of hope he’d had was quickly snuffed out as fresh tears fell down his face. He should have known they wouldn’t have buried her on blessed ground, not with his darkness covering her. He knew without looking at the small and obviously handmade marker that it was his Belle. Dropping to his knees, he sobbed. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m so sorry. My power doesn’t mean more to me than you. I love you,” he whispered to the cold earth, his voice thick with emotion. “I promised you a story,” he said when he finally composed himself. He sat there as the sun rose over the sea and told her about Baelfire and how he had chosen power over love once before. When his sordid tale was finished, he pulled the book from his coat. He flipped through the pages until he found the one that had originally caught his eye, “Annabel Lee”. Still under the cover of his spell, Rumpelstiltskin curled himself around the mound of earth that held his love read aloud.

“It was many and many a year ago,   
In a kingdom by the sea,  
That a maiden there lived whom you may know   
By the name of Annabel Lee;  
And this maiden she lived with no other thought     
Than to love and be loved by me.”


End file.
